Silene involucrata subsp. tenella

(Tolmatchew) Bocquet

Candollea 22: 24. 1967.

Common names: Taylor’s arctic campion
Basionym: Melandrium affine subsp. tenellum Tolmatchew Trudy Bot. Muz. 24: 258, fig. 4. 1932 (as Melandryum)
Synonyms: Gastrolychnis angustiflora subsp. tenella (Tolmatchew) Tolmatchew & Kozhanchikov Gastrolychnis involucrata subsp. tenella (Tolmatchew) Á. Löve & D. Löve Lychnis tayloriae B. L. Robinson Melandrium angustiflorum subsp. tenellum (Tolmatchew) Kozhanchikov Melandrium taimyrensis Tolmatchew Melandrium tayloriae (B. L. Robinson) Tolmatchew Melandrium tayloriae var. glabrum Hultén Melandrium tenellum (B. L. Robinson) Hultén Silene tayloriae (B. L. Robinson) Rydberg Wahlbergella tayloriae
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 188. Mentioned on page 186, 196.

Plants short-lived; taproot slender, usually with fewer basal leaves. Flowering stems branched distally, slender, (20–)30–45 cm, usually with 3–5 pairs of leaves, internodes longer than leaves. Pedicels usually several times longer than calyx. Flowers 8–12 mm diam.; calyx campanulate, 8–10(–12) mm in fruit. 2n = 48.


Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Gravelly and grassy places in the low arctic
Elevation: 0-1000 m

Distribution

V5 383-distribution-map.gif

Greenland, Man., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Yukon, Alaska, Asia (Siberia).

Discussion

Silene ostenfeldii often appears to be inseparable from subsp. tenella except for its wingless seeds. It may be that the two subspecies of S. involucrata, together with S. ostenfeldii and S. hitchguirei, are components of a single variable species with diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid populations.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
John K. Morton +
(Tolmatchew) Bocquet +
Melandrium affine subsp. tenellum +
Taylor’s arctic campion +
Greenland +, Man. +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, Yukon +, Alaska +  and Asia (Siberia). +
0-1000 m +
Gravelly and grassy places in the low arctic +
Flowering summer. +
Illustrated +
Gastrolychnis angustiflora subsp. tenella +, Gastrolychnis involucrata subsp. tenella +, Lychnis tayloriae +, Melandrium angustiflorum subsp. tenellum +, Melandrium taimyrensis +, Melandrium tayloriae +, Melandrium tayloriae var. glabrum +, Melandrium tenellum +, Silene tayloriae +  and Wahlbergella tayloriae +
Silene involucrata subsp. tenella +
Silene involucrata +
subspecies +